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Broadband is a beautiful thing, when you can get it. For those who either live in rural areas or more urban settings with lousy infrastructure, it is unfortunately harder to come by. One technology that has been getting a fair amount of attention  justified or not  is WiMax. Touted as an easy-to-deploy, long-range wireless solution, WiMax will get a chance to strut its stuff as AT&T begins testing the tech with two of its corporate customers.

With its announcement, AT&T looks to be one of the first of what may end up being a number of companies to begin WiMax testing. The trials in Middletown, NJ will involve the delivery of corporate network services such to begin with, with VoIP expected to follow later on in the year. If successful, the advantages of WiMax in a corporate environment are obvious: using WiMax instead of data lines means less infrastucture and lower expenses.

Based on the as-of-yet unfinalized 802.16 standards, WiMax promises much: speeds of up to 70Mbps over a range of 30 miles. (As any user of 802.11a/b/g can attest, there is usually a marked difference between theoretical maximums and actual performance). As a favorite technology of Intel's, that company's PR machine has been churning out claims about WiMax  high speeds, no more wires, access for those currently outside the reach of cable and DSL. However, it has at times been difficult to separate the hype from reality. All the spectrum issues have yet to be worked out, the 802.16 spec itself is still preliminary, and the IEEE will not begin certifying products until later in the year. Still, with trials such as AT&T's beginning, WiMax is inching slowly from promising technology to some sort of reality.